Ghost House
by Katharine McPhee Fan
Summary: Gabriella and Maddy are trying to solve a mystery of the house next door. Unfortunately, whoever is causing these noises and effects, wants the two of them dead. What's going on at 1313 Dead End Drive? It's not really a crossover, but I really wanted to s


The Case of the Ghost House

"OK, Gabby. What I don't get is why you lie to people when you say you know right from wrong." Maddy Vanty had the suspect cornered. Gabriella had nowhere to go.

"Nice moves," Gabriella replied. "I like the way you corner your suspect and with so much passion in your voice!"

"Awwww, thanks, sis." Maddy relaxed a little. It truly wasn't every day her sister gave her compliments like that. Actually, Maddy never really saw much of her sister. Gabriella and Maddy's parents split when they were little and the girls were separated. Gabby and their older brother, Michael, were visiting for the last week of summer. Gabby was a really good detective and had given Maddy some things to practice on. Maddy had always admired her sister's intelligence.

"One thing, though," Gabriella said quickly. "It's time for dinner and I'm stuck in this extremely small corner and I think I'm getting claustrophobic!"

"Oh, right, sorry," Maddy apologized and backed off of her older sister. Maddy was 13 and Gabriella was 16.

They ran downstairs with Gabriella's long, black hair swishing behind her, and Maddy's shoulder-length blonde hair bouncing up and down.

"So, girls," Adam Vanty, their father, asked at dinner, "Any new mysteries lately?"

"Not one!" Gabriella complained. "We've got to find one soon or we're ace out of a job."

No one knew, but as they were chatting, Michael had something up his sleeve. No matter how much anyone bugged and bothered him, he wouldn't say a thing about it. Until now. "I think I have a mystery for you to solve," Michael said as he put a forkful of pasta salad in his mouth. Gabby went wide-eyed. Their older brother was in an actual agency since he was 13, 5 years ago. "You know that old abandoned house next door," Michael said and jerked his head toward the window.

"Yeah, the one that keeps us all awake at night with all the weird noises and lights?" Maddy exclaimed.

"Well, it turns out that the police have searched the house several times and haven't found any trace of life," Michael explained.

"I think we should take whack at it!" Gabriella suggested.

"Yeah, let's go in that house after dinner," Maddy said as the girls hurried to finish their dinner.

At 8:00 PM the Vanty sisters stepped onto the front porch of 1313 Dead End Drive, blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Gabriella was wearing a 3-quarter length sleeve shirt, jeans, and sandals, while Maddy was sporting a tank top, mini-skirt, and sandals.

"Ok, we're goin' in!" Gabby said unsure. She opened the door and walked on in like it was her own house. Maddy followed, closed the door, and froze beside her sister.

"N-now th-th-that I di-didn't see comin'-in'!" Maddy stuttered.

The girls walked towards the thing in the middle of the room, horrified. It was a closed coffin with black vampire designs everywhere. But what freaked them out the most, was the fact that, on the coffin, had etched the names Maddy and Gabriella Vanty: RIP.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Gabriella and Maddy screamed as the lid of the coffin flew off and crashed through the window like wildfire. Terrified, they ran upstairs as the lights flickered on and off. Then, as if on cue, the thunder rolled.

In one of the bedrooms, the sisters hid in a closet and kept quiet. Maddy panted for breath. "Clearly, someone wants us dead."

"Hey, look. Isn't this your boyfriend's backpack?" Gabby asked and picked up a black and blue messenger bag.

"Yeah, what is it do…?" But Maddy never got to finish her sentence.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._ There was the sound of footsteps in the bedroom. _Thump. Thump. Thump._ They were getting louder and louder. _THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._ The doorknob in the dark closet began to jiggle and was slowly pulled open.

Gabriella and Maddy closed their eyes and began to scream, and feared what would happen next. A few seconds later, after they realized nobody was attacking them, they stopped and opened their eyes. No one was there. But there was a receipt from Target that wasn't there earlier.

Gabriella went over to pick it up. "Hey, didn't the girl who lived here before work at Target?"

"Yeah, she was the one that overcharged customers. I think this could be a clue."

"Let's go home. We have a mystery on our hands!" Gabriella said excitedly. The sisters ran downstairs and out of the house.

"OK. Let's talk about our suspects," Gabriella started as she sipped her vanilla shake. She, Maddy, Michael, and Maddy's boyfriend, Shane Lona, were at Lowdown's Café getting down to their 3 main suspects.

"Suspect #1: Sierra O'Berrie," Maddy said knowingly.

"She pretended to put receipts in the customer's bags, then took it out," Shane explained. "Then when the customer wanted their money back later, they would have no proof that they were overcharged."

"Cruel but clever. We caught her on tape," Michael admired.

"Suspect #2: Ryan Shaymore; Maddy's ex," Gabby continued.

"After he had 18 girlfriends in 1 month, and they all dumped him, he got so mad, he started stealing cars and selling them off the street, " Maddy added.

"Maddy was his favorite. That's why he's jealous that I'm going out with you." Shane pointed at Maddy and she blushed.

"Yeah, uh-uh. Be in love somewhere else, OK?" Michael cried covering his eyes. "We have a mystery to solve. Let's focus, people."

"Michael's right," Gabby said steering the focus and took a bit out of her hot dog. "Anyway, Suspect #3: Austin Hofflonn."

"Austin told uncountable lies and cheated on Gabriella when they were going out," Maddy explained. "After she broke up with him, he won the lottery, but then lost it all in horse racing bet. 2 weeks later, he stole $50 from Gabriella, still mad at her."

"It has to be one of them. They all have a good reason to want you 2 gone," Shane said sounding so sure of himself.

"We'll go back to the house tonight, to pick up any more clues," Gabriella ordered.

"I think that's a great—", Shane began to say before Michael nudged him in the rib. "—greatly bad idea. Greatly bad. Bad idea.

"Why?" Maddy asked.

"Well, it's only a few days before school starts and don't you think you should go to bed ontime?" Michael finished, obviously hiding something.

"No," the girls replied in unison.

"You're starting to sound like Mom. It's kinda creepy," Maddy said.

"Just a thought," Michael said acting all cool.

"Well, we're still going. See you guys later," Gabriella said. The girls stood up and walked out, leaving the boys to pay for everything.

"Here we go again," Gabriella said bravely with her notebook and pencil in hand. The girls were in the living room of the ghost house with no strange encounters…yet. "Now, here's the pl—." Gabby turned around to see her sister with her nose buried in a Girl's Life magazine. "Do you mind? We are trying…to solve… a mystery!"

"Oh, right, sorry." Maddy threw the magazine over her shoulder and it landed on a pile of books. They went over to pick some up. "How To Steal," she read.

"How To Pull The Best Prank Ever?" Gabby read and gasped. "This is one of Michael's books."

"I think it's time we have a little talk with our brother and my boyfriend."

Maddy and Gabby met Shane and Michael at Lowdown's Café the next day. "We know it was you 2. Making all the racket and the strange lights!" Gabriella said getting to the point.

"Yeah, so fess up!" Maddy continued.

The boys shared a glance. "Well, yeah," they said simply.

"That's it? Just like that? No cover-up story?" Maddy asked.

"But why?" Gabriella wondered aloud.

"See, 2 people got kicked off my agency group and…," Michael started.

"And…?" The girls urged him to go on.

"In order to be on the squad, you have to take a special test and—," Michael was saying.

"You passed!" Shane finished for him.

"Ohmigosh! We're in an actual agency!" Maddy and Gabby screamed and sang their hearts out. "Thank you ssssoooooo much!"

"But how did you pull it off? You weren't even a suspect!" Gabriella asked.

"Exactly," Michael replied laughing.

"It couldn't possibly have been Sierra: She is dead. And Ryan is in jail!" Shane added. "There's no way it could have been Austin, because he moved out of state. We made sure you didn't know any of that."

"OK, boys, that was a good one," Maddy said. "But how did you get the coffin lid to fly off and crash through the window like that?"

"What are you talking about? We didn't do that!" Shane questioned.

"Yeah, that's like physically impossible," Michael said uneasily.

Gabriella and Maddy Vanty exchanged scared glances. "UH—OH!"

THE END 

**Or is it?**


End file.
